Top Items:
New York Times:
Trump Team Knew Flynn Was Under Investigation Before He Came to White House — WASHINGTON — Michael T. Flynn told President Trump's transition team weeks before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign …
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Vera Bergengruen / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Flynn stopped military plan Turkey opposed - after being paid as its agent — WASHINGTON — One of the Trump administration's first decisions about the fight against the Islamic State was made by Michael Flynn weeks before he was fired - and it conformed to the wishes of Turkey …
Discussion:
Hot Air, IJR, Just Security, Raw Story, Axios, The Week, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mediaite, Politico and ABC News
Reuters:
Exclusive: Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians: sources — Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump's campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race …
Discussion:
Axios, The Atlantic, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, The Week, Gizmodo and twitchy.com
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Adam Entous / Washington Post:
House majority leader to colleagues in 2016: ‘I think Putin pays’ Trump — KIEV, Ukraine — A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, Take Care Blog, The Daily Caller, Gizmodo, The Root, twitchy.com, Mother Jones, Hot Air, Mediaite, CNBC, Shakesville, The Week, KTLA, New York Magazine, Politicus USA, The Guardian, Axios, NBC News, Political Wire and Balloon Juice
Ashley Dejean / Mother Jones:
Report: Top GOP Lawmaker Was Recorded Saying He Thought Trump Was on Putin's Payroll
Report: Top GOP Lawmaker Was Recorded Saying He Thought Trump Was on Putin's Payroll
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Daily Caller and bradford-delong.com
Wall Street Journal:
The Special Counsel Mistake — Rosenstein bends to political pressure, and here we go again.
Discussion:
The Last Tradition
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Jchong / Lawfare:
Initial Reactions on the Appointment of Robert Mueller As Special Counsel — FBI Director Robert Mueller leads a briefing for President Obama on the Boston Marathon bombings, April 2013 / Official White House Photo by Pete Souza — There's a lot of reason to be cheered this evening …
Discussion:
New York Times, CNN and Vox
NBC News:
Flynn, Manafort Are Key Figures In Russia Probe Mueller Will Lead — Former Trump aides Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort have emerged as key figures in the FBI's investigation into Russian campaign interference, which has just been taken over by a special counsel, four law enforcement officials told NBC News.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Mediaite, CNBC, New York Times, NBC News, The Week, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and Talking Points Memo
Washington Post:
Deputy attorney general appoints special counsel to oversee probe of Russian interference in election
Deputy attorney general appoints special counsel to oversee probe of Russian interference in election
Discussion:
New York Magazine, The Hill, The Week, Refinery29, Shareblue, Taylor Marsh, Power Line, New York Times, twitchy.com, Liberal Values, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Political Wire, KFOR-TV and TheBlaze
Philip Shenon / Politico:
Trump's Worst Nightmare Comes True
Trump's Worst Nightmare Comes True
Discussion:
ABC News, New York Times, The Week, Axios and Outside the Beltway
Matea Gold / Washington Post:
New special counsel Robert Mueller has history of standing up to the White House
New special counsel Robert Mueller has history of standing up to the White House
Rebecca R. Ruiz / New York Times:
Robert Mueller, Former F.B.I. Director, Named Special Counsel for Russia Investigation
Robert Mueller, Former F.B.I. Director, Named Special Counsel for Russia Investigation
Discussion:
Politico, alicublog, The Federalist, The Week, Take Care Blog, FiveThirtyEight, Daily Kos, Axios, Washington Free Beacon, The Atlantic, Booman Tribune, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Hit & Run and Althouse
Nicole Gaudiano / USA Today:
GOP blocks House vote on independent Russia-Trump investigation
GOP blocks House vote on independent Russia-Trump investigation
Discussion:
twitchy.com
Pamela Brown / CNN:
Comey prepped responses ahead of Trump discussions — (CNN)Ahead of discussions with President Donald Trump, Former FBI Director James Comey prepped with his team on ways to respond to anticipated questions so that he would not come across as confrontational during the ongoing Russia probe, according to an official close to Comey.
Discussion:
Althouse
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CNN:
Inside an embattled Trump's most consequential evening of turmoil yet — Washington (CNN)No one inside the West Wing had to ask how the President's mood was on Wednesday afternoon as aides awaited his return from delivering the commencement address to the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut.
Discussion:
The Hill, Balloon Juice, The Week, Above the Law, TheBlaze and Lawyers, Guns & Money
New York Times:
How Trump learned of the special counsel — The president learned of Mr. Rosenstein's decision around 5:35 p.m. on Wednesday when the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, walked into the Oval Office to tell him. — Mr. Trump, who was looking through papers, reacted calmly but defiantly at first …
Discussion:
Politico
Cecilia Vega / ABC News:
Trump reaction to special counsel measured, says White House
Trump reaction to special counsel measured, says White House
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Hill, Politico and Axios
Brandon Carter / The Hill:
Kellyanne Conway cancels Fox appearance after special prosecutor announcement
Kellyanne Conway cancels Fox appearance after special prosecutor announcement
Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
The worst job in Washington right now: Working for Trump
The worst job in Washington right now: Working for Trump
Discussion:
The Week, CNN, Take Care Blog, New York Times, Politico, BuzzFeed, TheStreet, Sunlight Foundation, The Atlantic, CNBC, Talking Points Memo, Gizmodo, Mashable, NPR, Fox News Insider, New York Post, The Guardian, RT, Media Matters for America and Vox
Tara Palmeri / Politico:
Trump turns to ex-campaign aides as scandals pile up
Trump turns to ex-campaign aides as scandals pile up
Discussion:
Mediaite and Associated Press
Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:
Neil Gorsuch will be the enduring symbol of a disastrous presidency. — Several hours after the New York Times reported on Tuesday that President Donald Trump had attempted to quash the FBI's investigation into Michael Flynn, conservative pundit Erick Erickson tweeted that …
Discussion:
Salon, CNN, Newsmax, The Daily Caller, Common Dreams, Media Matters for America and Refinery29
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Theodoric Meyer / Politico:
Conservatives begin to whisper: President Pence
Conservatives begin to whisper: President Pence
Discussion:
Breitbart, The Resurgent, The Last Tradition, Bloomberg, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider and The Federalist
Bill Allison / Bloomberg:
Pence Takes Steps to Build War Chest as White House Stumbles
Pence Takes Steps to Build War Chest as White House Stumbles
Discussion:
The Last Tradition
Jonah Goldberg / Los Angeles Times:
Column Dear Vice President Pence: What are you thinking?
Column Dear Vice President Pence: What are you thinking?
Discussion:
Fox News Insider
Alex Pfeiffer / The Daily Caller:
Pat Buchanan: It Isn't Watergate Yet, But How Long Can This Sustain? — Pat Buchanan says the nonstop uproar following Trump's firing of former FBI director James Comey is not comparable to Watergate, but he does wonder if the Trump presidency can function with this level of drama.
Discussion:
Vox Popoli
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Shane Harris / Wall Street Journal:
Israeli Source Seen as Key to Countering Islamic State Threat — The classified information that President Donald Trump shared with Russian officials last week came from an Israeli source described by multiple U.S. officials as the most valuable source of information on external plotting by Islamic State.
Politico:
Democratic leaders seek to stifle impeachment talk — House Democrats are buzzing about the possibility of President Donald Trump being impeached. But party leaders aren't going there — at least not yet. — Top Democrats in the House and Senate know their liberal base is clamoring for a harder line …
Discussion:
RedState
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Nick Gillespie / Hit & Run:
All This Impeachment Talk Is Pure Trump Derangement Syndrome
All This Impeachment Talk Is Pure Trump Derangement Syndrome
Discussion:
Breitbart, Politico, Hot Air, CNN and The Atlantic
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
‘The Flight 93 Election’ Crashes Again — In case you've had the pleasure of forgetting, “The Flight 93 Election” was the title of a portentous essay, published last September under a Roman pseudonym in The Claremont Review of Books, that declared the stakes for the United States in 2016 thus: “Charge the cockpit or you die.”
Discussion:
BarbWire.com
Washington Post:
Race between Democrats running for Virginia governor is neck-and-neck — RICHMOND — Virginia Democrats Tom Perriello and Ralph Northam are battling in a very close contest for the party's gubernatorial primary, with divisions reemerging from last year's Democratic presidential race …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Adriana Cohen / Boston Herald:
The media has lost its marbles — Just five months in, 2017 is going down in history as the year that gave us the worst media bias America has ever witnessed. — It's worse than slanted, it's flat-out rigged against our president and he knows it. Yesterday at the Coast Guard Academy …
Michelle Kosinski:
This is How Your Government Responds to Unfavorable News Coverage — Monday night, as the story of the President giving classified information to the Russians was in full evolution, I get a call from this guy: — RC Hammond, the State Department's communications advisor, who had his facts wrong about what was reported and by whom.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Trump isn't a toddler — he's a product of America's culture of impunity for the rich — “When you're a star, they let you do it.” — Ross Douthat's column arguing for the superiority of “25th Amendment remedies” to impeachment for Donald Trump's various misdeeds is impressive in its ability …